Made in Japan

In 1992, new advances in compact DC brushless motor technology were developed at the Nakatsugawa Works, a Mitsubishi Electric factory located in Central Japan.

While thinking of applications for the new motor, engineers came up with the novel idea of using high-powered jets of air to rapidly blow water off of the hands instead of relying on evaporation like conventional electric dryers. As a result, the Jet Towel was officially released in 1993 and hand drying has not been the same ever since.